Storm Front
by Fox the Writer
Summary: Two different universes clash as the storm brews forth a menace, and a hero, that neither the Space Rangers or the X-Men will never forget.
1. Prologue

**Author's Introduction**: Hi there, everybody!

I'm sorry this took SO long to everyone who might have been waiting for this story, but it's here, and it's a-go!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ or anything _X-Men_ that is recognized here from the show belongs to Disney, Marvel, Fox Kids, and/or Pixar. I do own the idea here, however.

**Ratings: K+**

**Warnings: **This story will contain spoilers from the show and also from the other fandom I am doing this crossover with; the _X-Men animated series_ from the 1990s. So if you don't want spoilers of any kind, I suggest you look away.

* * *

_In the countless reaches and parts of space, a flying vessel which housed an important deity and his servants glided through the empty sockets passing by stars, planets, and other inhabitants of space, searching._

_Searching for a quest._

_Unfortunately, this quest was able to come to an abrupt end._

_A great warrior and with his friends and allies, who all had sworn to protect the cosmos and all of its inhabitants stood up to this tyrant. Protected with armor and weaponry, they floated, blocking the tyrant's path._

"_You dare oppose me?" The leader shouted to his enemies._

"_We dare to the death!" The hero yelled in response. "You are a quest to rule this galaxy." He slowly called his trusty weapon to his side. "And we are here to end it."_

_His fellow warriors did the same._

"_So be it. ATTACK!"_

_The tyrant sent out his followers into battle, prepared to lay down their own lives for the sake of their leader. Likewise, the leader of the warriors and his friends went forward to fight and stop this menace at all costs._

_They fought, on and on, hoping to win, hoping to gain the upper hand. This fight seemed to last for eternity, with no clear indication of who was winning._

_It was not until sometime afterwards that the battle had ceased. Warriors of both sides, battered and bruised, stood up, exhausted to the point of death. But only one of the sides was stronger._

"_Bow down, infidel mortals! Do you not see? All is lost for you…INCLUDING YOUR LIFE!"_

_The leader of the warriors knew he and his friends couldn't give up on their oath, no matter how bad things seemed. And so, he stood up, tall and proud, defiantly challenging the poor excuse for a tyrant. He turned to his friends, and yelled, "To the heavens…!"_

_They raised their weapons and shouted back, "We fight!" They all stood at his side, armed and ready to take on the tyrant's enemies._

_The enemies came closer and closer…._

…

"…What happened then, my Evil Emperor?"

The said emperor glared at the one who questioned him upon his own throne. "YOU DARE TO INTERRUPT ME? ME, the Evil Emperor Zurg while I am telling an evil story?" The one who questioned him, a bug-like creature known as a Grub, shrunk back in terror and crawled into a regretful small ball, scared at his superior's wrath.

His fellow Grubs did the same motion, shrinking back in terror in their red uniforms, as they looked to the one who asked Zurg that question.

"Well? I'm waiting!" Zurg replied, impatient.

"Uh-uh…I dare not interrupt YOU, your Evilness. But what happened after that? Who won? Did the leader of the ship win?" The Grub asked, timid.

"…."

The Grub looked back up, slightly hoping the black and purple robed, bucket-headed emperor would calm down.

To his inner relief, Zurg did calm down….slightly. "Well,..er…nobody knows. That's all the story is; a series of never ending questions filled with never satisfying answers!" He sighed, aggravated. "And it was going on such a high note, as well! I would have appreciated a proper ending full of agony, loss and pain!" He crossed his arms, pouting.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

"What's that? What's going on?" He stood up, wondering what could be so important, and relieving the little Grub of his fear for now.

"My Evil Emperor, our sensors have picked up a large energy mass out in the open!" Another Grub shouted.

"…An energy mass? THAT is what the fuss the sensors are detecting?" Zurg asked with sarcasm and a hint of doubt.

"Y-yes, my evil emperor, but this energy mass exists not within space, but….er…"

"Yes? I'm listening." Zurg asked, a bit testy. He crossed his arms and tapped his fingers, waiting further explanations from the Grub.

"The er…space BETWEEN spaces."

"The…space between spaces?"

"Yes, my Evilness. This energy mass is currently existing between the spaces within space. Our sensors indicate that although this energy mass is in a fixed position, it exists as a large anomaly within space itself."

The word "anomaly" alone was enough to strike fear and hesitation into what was considered the heart of Zurg. It reminded him of the time when he discovered an opening into an alternate universe where the bad guys won, but it was the evil BUZZ LIGHTYEAR that did all that, not him. And he would never forget the time he was double crossed by that Buzz.

But this time he was going to be careful.

"Ease down to where this energy mass is supposed to be. We don't want to be too hasty now, do we?"

As the Grubs and Brain Pods, purple wheeling machines with brain-like aliens fitted inside their glass jars, prepared the Dreadnought to the source of this energy mass, the evil emperor sat back down in his chair, waiting the news of whatever this energy mass was.

Little did he know that he was heading into one of the biggest threats his galaxy will ever face….

* * *

Author's Notes:

The story that Zurg is telling in the beginning comes into play later on. How? Well, uh...(chuckles) Let's just say it involves someone from the past...from BOTH pasts of the two universes...

In an episode of BLoSC (Buzz Lightyear of Star Command), there is an alternate universe where instead of the good guys winning and Zurg losing, the bad guys are winning, and it's BUZZ who's winning, as a bad guy. A pretty dark episode, but all the same, it makes some good storytelling!

Yes, the story has begun. But where will this newfound search of Zurg take him?

**Stay tuned to find out!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Introduction**:

Aaaaaaaand, we're up to chapter one of _Storm Front_, ladies and gents! This chapter took quite a long while for me to type up, mainly due to real life and procrastination. xD

But in all seriousness, it's here and we're starting off with both sides of the story; the gang of _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ and the folks of the _X-Men_.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ or anything _X-Men_ that is recognized here from the show belongs to Disney, Marvel, Fox Kids, and/or Pixar. I do own the idea here, however.

**Ratings: K+**

**Warnings: **Same as last chapter. This story will contain spoilers from the show and also from the other fandom I am doing this crossover with; the _X-Men animated series_ from the 1990s. So if you don't want spoilers of any kind, I suggest you look away.

* * *

_WHOOSH!_

As the ship flew towards the space where the energy mass resided, Zurg could not help but pace around the ship, in a fair amount of excitement.

Of course, granted, he was trying to contain it for fear that it might turn out to be a dud, and to make sure it wouldn't lead into another alternate universe... Come to think of it, WHY was he so interested in this new anomaly, anyway? It's not like he had any idea of how to use it to conquer the universe.

But...a part of him wanted to see this mysterious energy mass before he did anything. He did not want to do anything evil yet without finding out what exactly this energy mass was, and if it possessed any threat to him.

"Approaching the area, your Evilness," a Grub reported.

"Good. Ease a few feet away from the energy mass. We don't want any accidents here." The Grubs piloting the ship did as their ruler commanded. They eased down right above the space where this energy mass was supposed to be located.

So far, all they saw were stars and no indication of any large changes in energy.

Everything seemed quiet… TOO quiet even for Zurg's liking.

"Hmmm…" The Grubs and Brain Pods, brain-like aliens in mechanical machines, all looked to the Emperor, wondering what he was up to, what he was thinking.

"How large IS this energy mass?"

The Grub typed into the computer, commanding it to calculate the size. He looked over the computer's findings and reported, "Well, according to our findings, this energy mass is large enough to cover a whole planet!"

"A planet you say, hm? Anything else?"

Not wanting to make his master wait, the Grub typed in more commands and what came up made the Grub's antennae drop faster than a rock.

"Uh…"

"Well, what is it? I'm waiting!"

The Grub turned around in his seat and cringed, seeing his master tap his fingers on his crossed arms. He fidgeted, trying to find the right words to describe what he found out.

"Well… My Evil Emperor… This energy mass… It's more than just a mass… It's a-"

_WHOOP! WHOOP! WHOOP!_

The blares of the alarms were enough to distract Zurg from demanding the Grub's answers, and made him focus on demanding the Grubs and Brain Pods to get into positions.

Zurg gripped his hands and yelled,"What is it? What's going on?"

One of the Brain Pods, Brain Pod #76, looked over from his screen and reported, "My Evil Emperor, readings indicate the energy mass is… Is moving!"

"Where, 76?"

"…We'd better fly like the solar wind; it's moving OUR way!" Brain Pod #76 quickly thought ahead of the Emperor's orders to maneuver the ship out of the energy mass's way, as Zurg commanded everyone else to do the same.

Zurg looked everywhere out the windows of his ship, the _Dreadnought_, to see where this energy mass was coming from. He looked all around, searching, searching for any sign.

Nothing.

Feeling rage cloud his judgment, he turned in his wrath to face a subtly shaking Brain Pod #76. "Well? WHERE IS IT?"

Brain Pod #76, in a vain attempt to save face, fiddled his robotic thumbs and tried to reason with the angry Emperor. "Uh, well, er…my Evilness, t-the energy m-mass is nearb-by, but for some re-reason, our computers c-can't say where, and-"

"INCOMING!"

Both Zurg and 76 whipped around to face the windows, and after a brief moment of shock and stiff awe, Zurg snapped out of it and ordered, "GET THE SHIP OUT OF THE WAY!"

They barely made it out of the way, just in time to see a LARGE mass of burning red and golden energy soaring past the ship, seeming to come out of nowhere!

It flew by them and although the ship shook from the impact of the energy, they were still floating and still alive. Zurg allowed his Brain Pods and Grubs a brief moment to relax before he took action once more. "Hmm….I need for one of you to get me a magnification of that energy mass."

Another Grub obeyed his command. "Zooming in onto energy mass." After a few moments, the Grub displayed the magnification onto the main window of the ship, turning it into a screen.

The screen displayed a close up of the energy mass, and everyone, including Zurg, was free to gape and marvel at the details and true form of this flaming enigma.

It was larger than a planet, a fiery beacon of awe-inspiring energy, the very thing that could spark the imagination and heart. The beacon was shaped into a giant sharp form, like a comet, and even though it was not easy to determine what it was, Zurg could not help but widen his eyes at how it was flying through space at such an incredible speed…burning by itself with no help from oxygen...like the sun.

"_I wonder…" _The Evil Emperor ordered, "Scan that mass's temperature."

Without another word, the Grubs measure the temperature. "According to our scales…it measures right off! More than 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit!"

"Just as I thought. That energy mass is able to burn without the use of oxygen like the sun, yet it's free-moving….very intriguing…." He tapped his green teeth in thought, thinking about this mysterious free moving form. He muttered, "This could be worth something after all…" The Grubs and Brain Pods once again looked at the Evil Emperor, wondering the exact same thing as he pondered over this mysterious form of energy.

What was he thinking about?

* * *

"What are you thinking about, Buzz?"

The said person did not hear the question the first time.

"Buzz?"

"….."

"Uh….BUZZ!"

Ranger Buzz Lightyear finally snapped out of his daydreaming state and turned around in his seat aboard the Star Cruiser 42 to face the BIG red alien navigator, Booster Munchapper.

"Yes, Booster?" He asked, keeping the irritation out of his question. As Buzz tapped his fingers impatiently on his chair to hear what Booster had to say, another voice pitched in, stopping Booster from speaking.

"Well, big guy, Booster here wants to know why you were off daydreaming away while we were waiting for orders. You haven't said a thing since we left Star Command to go on patrol, which is not like you." XR, the short robot ranger, explained, as he stood next to Booster, arms akimbo against his metallic hips.

Star Command was the headquarters of the Space Ranger Corps, a collective group of individuals from many different races of aliens and humans who come together to defend their galaxy from the Evil Emperor Zurg and many other malevolent forces.

Buzz Lightyear was the pride of Star Command, representing the best of the Space Rangers, and was the leader of his team, which consisted of three Rookies; Booster Munchapper, a red-skinned and strong yet gentle giant who sees Buzz as his hero, XR, a robot Ranger who could be reconstructed if he was blown apart, and Mira Nova, a red-haired and blue skinned Tangean woman who was his copilot and the only female on the team.

Frowning at the robot, he asserted, "XR, I was NOT daydreaming. I was…pondering."

"Over what, Buzz?" Booster asked, leaning forward in his seat, curious.

"Over Star Command, over his place in the universe….although those two things are one and the same for him," XR commented.

Buzz sighed. "No. It's NOT that. If you want me to say what it is I'm feeling, I'll open up."

He glanced knowingly at his co-pilot, Mira, who smiled and nodded back in acknowledgement. "Go ahead. We're listening," she encouraged. She was more than willing to hear what was on his mind.

Buzz gave a small smile back as he looked at his rookies, ready to say what was on his mind. "Well, it's just…lately-"

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

The ship's black screen flashed to reveal a gruff, older ranger. It was the Space Rangers' leader, the dark-skinned, silver-mustached, resilient and tough Commander Nebula.

"Commander Nebula." Buzz gave a quick salute.

After briskly giving one back, Nebula wasted no time in getting down to business. "Lightyear, we just got a call from the Museum of Ancient History on Capital Planet. One of the curators wants some guards to watch over some shipments of the latest archeological artifacts from Chay, Pax, and Planet X."

Capital Planet was the home of the Galactic Alliance, a federation of planets consisting of diplomats and senators who worked together to try to bring peace to the galaxy against Zurg's every growing agenda for terror. The Space Rangers worked alongside the Galactic Alliance, acting as a branch to new and undiscovered planets and races, coaxing them to come out of their shells to join the Galactic Alliance to be offered protection against the evil emperor, who held a fire of hatred towards them and the Space Rangers.

In Buzz's mind, he could almost hear the thoughts of what the rest of his team were thinking: _Guard duty? Splendid._

To hide his team's dread, he asked with professional courtesy, "How many shipments are there, sir?"

"Give about two or three, at the most. The LGMs and the curators have been workin' hard for the past three weeks to find the artifacts. They found more than enough artifacts to take up room in the Science Lab, which is why we can't bring them up here; there are too many of them for the LGMs to work on, but the curators have offered to help out by allowin' the little green beans to work with them."

"And we're there to make sure nobody steals the artifacts?"

The commander nodded in confirmation. "Right. The curators especially wanted some security today. They're hostin' a new display, but they're edgy about Zurg tryin' somethin'."

"Consider the mission done, sir. Lightyear out." The screen flashed to black, the commander's face out of sight.

"YAWN," XR emphasized, his fake, sarcastic yawn echoing loud and clear. "Who wants to go guard some old dusty knickknacks at the dullest place in the entire galaxy?"

Although Booster was the type to normally miss sarcasm, he was also the type to show incredible enthusiasm for whatever he found to be worth checking out. "Oh, I think it'll be very exciting, XR. We get the chance to check out some cool stuff left behind by people who lived years and YEARS ago!"

"Learn about how people walked around yammering about how cities were built in a day? Why _bother_? You hear about one enigma-filled culture, you hear 'em all."

"Be that as it may, we still have a job to do, Rangers. So let's go do it," Buzz ordered. He and Mira turned on the thrusters and together, they navigated the ship towards Capital Planet.

As they did, Mira asked, "So…what was it you were thinking about, Buzz?"

Buzz blinked for a minute, puzzled by what she asked. " 'What I was thinking about?' "

Mira reconfirmed, "What were you thinking about before our assignment?"

That brought a lightbulb to Buzz's head as he remembered what she meant. "OH! Oh, well, I was thinking I needed to change the crystallic fusion cells today."

* * *

"…" It seemed like a long time had passed before Zurg even moved a muscle again.

Not ONE of the Grubs or Brain Pods dared interrupting him; not while he was thinking deeply about whatever it was he decided was worth his time thinking about….save one.

"… What are your orders, sir?" 76 asked, genuinely curious about what Zurg was thinking. His fellow workers cringed in fear.

Zurg tapped his green teeth in thought once more. Normally, he would have shouted at his workers if they dared to interrupt him, but he was more concerned with this mysterious force, and what to do about it.

And 76's question was the perfect solution.

He turned to his loyal workers, seeming at ease. The workers slowly relaxed, their shoulders slowly easing downwards.

"We must send the Hornets out to investigate this enigma. I want to know more about it!"

Every Grub and Brain Pod jumped at Zurg's commanding demeanor, wasting no time in sending our the Hornets and directing the ship to follow the mysterious force. Now that he had a good idea of what to do about it, he was now curious about it, and he did not want to let his curiosity wither away.

* * *

She flew.

As she flew in the river of stars in space, she also sensed that someone was behind her, trying to chase her. The sounds of a ship's engines and thrusters had been enough to send her senses high on the alert.

Her main objective now was to find a place where she could wait until the time had come.

She flew, faster and faster from the vessel of evil trailing behind her. It was then she knew how to disappear. Seeing a sand-covered planet coming into her sight, she flew towards it.

She did not want to be discovered in this young galaxy.

Not yet.

* * *

In another part of the universe, in another galaxy, far away from Space Rangers and Evil Emperors, another being was hard at work, thinking. Thinking back about the past...and an old friend.

She was outside of the rustic, burgundy-colored, 3-story mansion of the heroic team known as the X-Men. The X-Men were a group of humans who had gained superpowers through various means. They try to use them for good, even in the face of prejudice and confusion. That is why normal humans called people like them, "mutants". They feared them.

Her team was asleep, trying to ease away the pain out of saying goodbye to their beloved mentor and father figure, Professor Charles Xavier. It had been her mentor's dream to bring a peaceful understanding between them, and she was one of his biggest supporters.

Jean Grey, one of the members, sighed sadly and silently as she looked at the night's stars, figuring how the man who had been like a father to her would have loved to see them from the mansion. A small breeze picked up, caressing her face and gliding into her red hair, causing strands to wave in front of her face. She closed her eyes, thinking about her mentor. It felt like it was only yesterday he left her and the X-Men... and that felt too horrible for her to bear.

_Clop. Clop. Clop. _

Rather than turn around to see who it was, she sensed their presence. She spoke, sounding much like a caring mother, "What are you doing up at this hour, Scott?"

She heard her red glasses-wearing lover, Scott Summers, or Cyclops, walk over the cobblestone path to stand next to his beloved darling as she stood in her nightgown looking at the moon, out in the garden. Jean sighed deeply as he placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it in comfort.

"I was worried about you, my darling. You've been outside for an hour." His voice was like a hybrid of a dutiful soldier and a tender gentleman. Right now, the gentleman side of him was out, doing his best to comfort Jean as much as a lover could.

Jean sighed again. "I miss him, Scott. I miss Xavier." She turned around, looking at him sadly and leaning her head into chest, giving him permission to hug her tightly and rub her back.

"So do I, Jean. I want to see him again, too." He looked up at the sky, longing for any contact from him.

Jean seemed to sense his desire. "I haven't had any contact with him ever since he...left. I don't think he'll still be coming back here for a while."

Scott gave a small grunt, a blend of frustration and sadness seeping out of his breath at the thought of Xavier gone. "I'm sure Lilandra is doing all she can for him."

Jean closed her eyes at her lover's faltered optimism, but she only nodded to assure that she agreed with him...although she had the feeling Scott knew how she felt, and buried herself further into his arms. They could only _hope_ that she was doing all she could to prevent him from going away forever.

Lilandra was an ally of the X-Men, who literally lived out of this world. She was the princess of an alien race known as the Sh'iar Empire. They first met Lilandra when their galaxy was threatened by her mad brother, D'Ken, who wanted to rule the galaxy through the M'Kraan Crystal, a powerful gem that could control and manipulate a galaxy in any way, shape and form.

The X-Men had succeeded in saving their world, but it was not the last time they saw Lilandra. During that time, Lilandra and Xavier had developed quite a relationship with each other, but they could not be together, out of their strong determination to their causes. Xavier still felt that he needed to bring peace between normal humans and mutants, and Lilandra wished to set things right in her kingdom.

It was funny how two beings who lived worlds apart had the same determination as the X-Men did; to do the right thing.

But did doing the right thing always have to come at a high price?

Scott sighed this time. He attempted to soothe her, "Let's go inside, Jean. We'll try again tomorrow-"

"Scott! I don't want to try again tomorrow; I want to try again now!" Jean's upset tone did little to match her angry expression, but it was enough to have Scott do a take.

"Jean..."

Jean realized whom she was snapping at and hugged Scott. "I'm sorry, Scott. I just want him back."

Scott, needless to say, hugged her back, forgiving her. "We ALL do, Jean. We ALL do." He placed a hand on her head, holding her close to him lovingly.

They stood like that for a while, wanting no interruptions. It was only after about fifteen minutes did they decide to go in and try to sleep.

...Little did they know they were being watched.

"Soon, pitiful mutants," an ominous voice in the wind and away in the trees whispered, coming from the shadows of the future,

"Soon."

* * *

Author's notes:

So now we've got Team Lightyear out on a mission, Zurg chasing after a mysterious energy mass, and the X-Men mourning a loss.

But it is important for you to...Be afraid...be VERY afraid of the mysterious figures in this chapter. They play a VERY important part in this story.

Please review!


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Introduction**:

Sorry it's been a long while; things have gotten busy for me lately with real life and all. But hopefully, this new chapter will be enough to make it up.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ or anything _X-Men_ that is recognized here from the show belongs to Disney, Marvel, Fox Kids, and/or Pixar. I do own the idea here, however. Elana Dentrite is also mine.

**Warnings: **Same as last chapter. This story will contain spoilers from the show and also from the other fandom I am doing this crossover with; _X-Men: The Animated Series_. So if you don't want spoilers of any kind, I suggest you look away.

A special thanks to bluegrows AKA ab103 for acting as my beta when she could be doing more productive things than viewing over my fanfics. Thanks, sugah! :)

To Ranger-Nova: Thanks for that wonderful and awesome review! I'm glad you are able to understand everything. Hopefully this chapter will quench your thirst for excitement and adventure even more. :)

* * *

Soon Team Lightyear landed their reliable space ship outside the Museum of Ancient History. The museum was actually a few minutes away from where the collective Galactic Alliance met.

The Galactic Alliance was a group consisting of senators and leaders from around different planets and galaxies who came together to act as one to negotiate peace and to protect each other against the Evil Emperor's reign of terror. It was moderated and led by the literally two-mouthed and green skinned alien, the Madame President. They usually worked alongside Star Command, granting the Space Ranger Corps permission to serve as not only defenders, but also peace-keepers, explorers, scientists, and diplomats.

And today, Buzz and his team were going to serve as solely watchers…whether they liked it or not.

Buzz sighed deeply, making sure his Rangers did not hear the frustration seeping within it. "Alright, team, let's go guard some artifacts."

But even his team knew that their captain was not looking forward to this.

Mira spoke up as she unbuckled her seat belt, "M'kay, Buzz…as much as I like seeing and reading up on the past, I'm not so much keen on _guarding_ it. Remember what happened last time we had an encounter with the past?"

As Buzz and the team filed out of the white space ship, Buzz asserted, "Now that was different, Mira. We aren't going to face off against some space mummy; we're just going to be watching over some old relics. Nothing more."

By the time the team reached the ground, they were already thinking about their assignment. It was not so much _what_ they were guarding that bothered them; it was that they were _guarding. _Guard duty was one of the least liked duties of the Space Ranger Corps that no one Ranger truly liked doing. But it had to be done in case an emergency should ever arise.

XR complained, "I hope that some of these old junk is worth looking at. I just don't know why Pop wanted to send us on guard duty when we've got other Rangers for this." His father was Commander Nebula, who XR believed him to be his father because Nebula had unintentionally given permission to the LGMs, Star Command's green-skinned, three-eyed, loyal workers, to create XR as a robot ranger.

Buzz shook his head at his robotic friend's tone as they walked over to the museum. "He asked us because these are valuable artifacts that Zurg could try to get his hands on. We've got to make sure that doesn't happen." But secretly, Buzz almost wished it could happen; at least he'd get some action.

XR retorted, "Somehow I get the feeling nothing will happen at all."

The team walked across the Alliance plaza of Capital Planet's main city, ignoring the beautiful day with the people partaking in various activities; walking, communicating, and enjoying the quiet scenery.

But there would be a change of scenery for the Ranger team, for soon, they reached the Museum of Ancient History's borders, its white granite architecture standing proudly on top of mighty pillars and porticos on two sides of the museum. Over the entrance was engraved the museum's name. The museum was tall enough to be considered a temple, and it could have been one had it not been occupied as a place of the past.

The team walked on, climbing the steps and eventually reaching within the open museum doors. They went inside, stopping in front of the way from which they came, looking around at their surroundings.

The museum's exterior size matched the interiors' greatness. Tall and cream-colored pillars also dominated the inside, bearing the weight of the windowed sun roofs, allowing the sun's warmth to shine through the building. Golden painted wreaths curled around the pillars up to the very top, and in between pillars and on the white walls, hung beautifully colorful, woven tapestries portraying stories of various figures. Displayed below the large tapestries were assorted objects encased within glass displays, as if to show their uniqueness and age from another place and time, giving a sense of mystery and fascination with them. But beside the glass displays, protected by silver railings to give a respectful space for the objects, sat wooden crates, many of them opened with tangled Styrofoam, and some of them were completely closed, bearing the address of the museum in black and bold print. Entrances to other exhibits in the museum were currently closed, and there was a large and black curtain on the left side of the room, closing the rest of the museum off.

Booster marveled, "WOW….this is just SOOO cool!" He looked around at the various tapestries. He grinned at seeing the giant figures woven on the tapestries, and made his way over to the nearest one on his right on his own, the others not following suit, as he went to look at the different tapestries individually.

But Buzz had other ideas in mind. "Now Booster, we are here to guard these usele-er, ancient artifacts, not to marvel at them." He crossed his arms. He REALLY did not want to be here now.

Mira interjected, "Ah, c'mon, Buzz. I know this is something you wouldn't want to be doing, but we are here to do our job. N-not that I-I like this assignment myself, in fact I-I don't necessarily feel we sh-should have to be here when w-we could be…"

As Buzz and XR listened to Mira ramble on, Booster ignored Buzz's command and continued to look at the tapestries, gaping in awe at the pieces of history and mythology interlaced into the very strands of the fabrics threaded so long ago by unknown weavers.

Each of the colorful tapestries indeed beheld stories of the past and myth, but one of them contained a story, a certain legend that had long ceased to exist, hung at the far right end of the main hall, a brief breeze in an invisible wind blowing through it. This was what made Booster stop smiling and gape without each moving an inch. He stared at this particular tapestry, completely numb to say or feel anything.

Mira eventually stopped her rambling when she saw Booster standing there dumbly like a statue, and blinked. "Booster?"

Buzz and XR turned to face Booster standing at the far right end of the hall, transfixed upon the largest tapestry of the room.

Buzz berated across the echoing room, "Booster, I told you that we are here to _guard_, not to _view_!" He crossed his arms and tried again once more, his usual patience for Booster wearing thin. "Capital Planet to Booster, do you read me?!"

XR commented, "I don't think he's listening right now, big guy. He looks pretty interested in that tapestry there," he patted his chest, "which is more than I can say for myself." From where Team Lightyear was standing, the tapestry just seemed to illustrate an armored warrior kneeling on one knee and planting what looked liked to be a sword in front of them.

Mira suggested, "Let's go over and check it out. Since we're here, and nobody else is," She motioned around, indicating that there was indeed no one else here but the team, "We may as well do some looking around while we wait for whoever is going to meet us about these objects…if anyone shows up, that is."

XR was about to interject again, but Buzz interrupted him, "Hmm…well, since we're here, we could go ahead and see what kind of objects we're supposed to keep an eye on and why Zurg may want to steal them." He scrunched his face up in disgust about the sheer thought of Zurg breaking and entering.

Mira and XR inwardly rolled their eyes. Oh brother…everything had to be related to Zurg with Buzz, didn't it?

Buzz and Zurg had a bitter rivalry for unknown reasons and for who knows how long, which was sometimes one of the reasons why Buzz thought that anything sinister or evil that occurred had to do with Zurg, making him somewhat of a one-dimensional being.

But seeing Buzz walk over to Booster, Mira and XR rejected their thoughts and followed after him. On occasion, they peeked out of the corners of their eyes and optics at the woven pieces of art. But their eyes would soon rest fully on the tapestry before them, for this was no ordinary tapestry when they soon reached the railing that Booster leaned on, looking upwards at…

Up close, they saw a silver armored figure kneeling on the ground before them near the bottom of the tapestry, one of its hands gripped around its planted sword as a balance, the other upon his left thigh. The figure was completely encased in armor, but the only thing that looked remotely comforting and normal at all, were its light green and fiery eyes, quietly staring into one's eyes and heart. Around the figure, four small and black demon-like creatures floated, away from this warrior carefully, as if its very presence was enough to destroy them if they got close to it. Covering the other patches of the tapestry upon the wall, the warrior's image was replicated, performing other deeds, like fighting a giant shadow-like monster, giving a flower to a small child, shielding a woman from an unknown danger, and many other heroic deeds. Other figures made themselves present with the armored warrior, standing beside them performing various deeds. The borders of the earth-colored tapestry swirled small red fires and flowers, curling up on themselves in various patterns. A much bigger fire blazed in the background, as if to ignite the mystery of this warrior, and below the fire and warrior's feet, a poem of red written words was present.

The rest of the team gaped in surprise at the hard work put into this one tapestry. The other tapestries were given the same amount of love and care, yes, but this one…the one must have had a reason for the many colors, the many threads woven into it to create it. This warrior must have been a very influential person from olden times. But who were they?

"Ah…enjoying yourselves, Rangers?" A cheerful voice rang out.

The rangers broke out of their stupor and turned around to come face to face with a female Rhizomian, wearing a very nice and lightly lavender colored dress that flowed down to her knees, an open white jacket, and black shoes. A flow of dark green hair covered her back down to her hips, which complemented her aloe green skin. Her baby blue eyes glinted with a sense of joy and a hint of silliness. Her slender giraffe-like snout and pointed bat-like ears translated her carefree personality by smiling and looking very alert.

XR immediately shook his head, hearts appearing in his eyes at how attractive this Rhizomian was.

Mira raised a brow at XR's behavior. "_Oh boy…here we go again." _XR may have been a robot, but his skirt-chasing antic was so typical of any guy. Any guy that was like XR, anyway.

The Rhizomian did not see it, and spoke again. "You're here to guard our shipments, I see. Very good, indeed!" She let out a warm and child-like giggle.

The Rangers, even XR, glanced to each other in confusion. Who was this woman?

Buzz cleared his throat and politely asked, "Who are you, ma'am?"

The Rhizomian giggled again, very pleasantly. "Oh, right! Where are my manners?" She placed a hand on her chest, grinning as she introduced herself. "I'm Elana Dendrite, one of the curators. I was the one who called Star Command. I know who you are, Ranger Lightyear, but who are your partners?"

The team started to introduce themselves when Elana interrupted. "Wait, don't tell me!" She laughed again, like a child playing a guessing game. "You're Mira Nova," She motioned to the red-haired Tangean, "You're Booster," she then motioned to the red and kind giant, "And YOU'RE XR, right?" She pointed to the robot Ranger, playfully.

XR pumped out his robotic chest as much as he could and stamp it with a hand. "That's right, ma'am! XR, as in 'eXceptionally Radiating.' The Rhizomian chortled at XR's antics, hiding it under a hand.

Mira whispered to Buzz, "More like eXceptionally Rude."

Buzz gave her a pointed look in return before turning to Elana. "How did you know our names?"

Elana smiled cheerfully and shrugged, her clasped hands lowered in front of her. "Oh, your friends, the LGMs, told me. They're out back," She hooked a thumb over her back to point behind her, "Going over the shipments we're receiving. I was helping them when I decided to come back in here to see if you Rangers arrived yet. And now that I have, we're sure to be safe now." She grinned, sure of herself.

Buzz wryly commented, "Safe from Zurg, right?"

Elana nodded. "But of course! You Rangers ARE his greatest enemies, no?" She swirled for a minute, further commenting, "And we need all the help we can get to protect these artifacts. They come from all over the place." She stopped and grinned again, and twitched a leg in excitement.

Buzz blinked again. This woman was certainly no dull, old and crusty curator, that much was certain. "Really?"

Elana nodded. "That's right. This tapestry, and many other items have been found among the ruins of Pax, Planet X, Chay and many other planets. It is an EXQUISITE and rare find, as it's the only one in existence to be perfectly preserved." She waved with a hand to the other tapestries. "The others are preserved too, yeah, but this one…", She turned back to the large tapestry, her eyes full of wonder, "It's like this was woven just yesterday."

Buzz and his friends did not know what to make of this woman. She was certainly enthusiastic about her work. But _they_ had a job to do, and they did not want to waste any time.

Buzz cleared his throat again. "So _what _exactly do you want us to do, Ms. Dendrite?"

Elana blinked, not understanding the question. It took a minute for her to take it in, and then she blushed, flustered. "O-oh, yes. I'm so sorry! I get so wrapped up in my work that I just forget about other things, y'know?" She cleared her throat and suggested, "Well, I do need two of you to stay here and watch over these crates while the rest of you can help me move some of the cargo inside. We may be meeting more of your fellow Rangers because they're delivering more cargo; we asked them for help as well in shipping our artifacts in. We need to get our shipments in soon; we're preparing this exhibit to be open to the public next week."

This made Buzz grin inwardly at the great thought of getting away from guarding and actually doing something. He volunteered, "Booster and I will help you move those crates, Ms. Dendrite. We'd be happy to help. Mira and XR will stay here."

XR was about to protest, but Mira silenced him with a curt, "Yes. Yes, w-we'll stay here." XR glared at that.

Booster nodded. "Yeah, we'll move them for you." He gave his friends a weak and apologetic look, to which Mira only weakly grinned back and XR just silently kept his glare up.

Elana grinned gratefully. "That'd be a big help! Thank you." She started heading out. "I'll show you two to our loading area where the LGMs are, and tell you what you need to do." She glanced over her shoulder to speak to Mira and XR, "I'll be back to meet up with you two in a few minutes, ok?"

Buzz and Booster went off to help Elana, leaving Mira and XR to stew over the fact they were stuck with guard duty.

XR asked, "Why did you stop me from protesting?"

Mira pouted, and crossed her arms. "Did you want to argue with Buzz?"

XR thought about this for a minute and pouted too, agreeing with Mira. When it came to Buzz's decisions, it was final and straight to the point. He opened his chest compartment to pull out a deck of Star Command-issued cards. "Up for a game of poker?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the cold reaches of space, the chase was still on for a certain emperor, as he chased after the blazing beacon.

"Faster, Grubs, faster!"

The emperor was, needless to say, determined to catch this thing. He watched as the Grubs commanded the ship to move faster after it. He hoped he would catch it and figure out what it was, hopefully enough to satisfy his curiosity and get on with his planning to take over the galaxy.

But at this rate, with the beacon flying at an incredible speed, it may be impossible to accomplish…and Zurg HATED it when his plans were not accomplished.

So...he continued to pursue this beacon, his agitation growing within each minute.

* * *

She flew towards the sand-covered planet, away from the ship. Upon entering the planet's thermosphere, she focused herself on one objective; finding a place to hide until the time had come.

She dived, deeper and deeper into the layers of the atmosphere. Knowing that the ship was soon to follow, she quickly scanned the lands for any place to hide until it was safe. There was nothing yet…until she saw a pyramid-shaped building, surround by smaller buildings and pillars in a relatively undersized and flat alcove marked in the sand.

She would have taken satisfaction at this location, if it not were for the present occupants of the small city. These occupants, she presumed, belonged to an important group, as they wore white and green armor, and walked around carrying wooden crates into a dark green ship.

The beacon knew she could not allow herself to be seen by these mortals yet, so she darted far from their sight and dived down, faster than a comet to the pyramid. Once she came near the pyramid…she suddenly flared up and disappeared straight into the pyramid's heart.

* * *

The Rangers took no notice of the beacon, considering the sun, and her speed, concealed her from their sight. They only focused on their job of carrying the crates onto the dark green ship that belonged to another curator. The curator was currently on the ship going over the shipments to make sure all was intact, while the Rangers got them on board.

They had been lifting crates for a good hour, so the curator decided to give them a break after one more shipment was on board. Once that was done, the small group took refuge under the ship, blessing them with shade.

"Whew!" One of the younger and dark-skinned Rangers swept sweat off his brow, leaning back against the hull. He remarked in a light-hearted manner, "I wonder how many more shipments we'll have to deliver to the museum; this stuff is heavy."

An eagle-like Ranger, whose deep voice was filled with enough dryness to suck up the water from the sands, added, "More than enough to fill up Star Command, Sprocket." The Ranger looked out at the ancient city disdainfully. "I wouldn't be surprised if we had more than enough to fill up the ship, leaving no room for us."

Sprocket spoke again, trying to cheer up his friend. "Ah, c'mon, Elsu, y'know that we can handle more of these shipments. It won't be so bad once we're done. Besides, there's only five more crates we have to take onto the ship. We'll be outta here before you can say 'mission accomplished.'"

Elsu raised a brow when he glanced at his friend. "If we can even CALL it a mission…", he shook his head and sighed in frustration, "But I hope so, Sprocket. I really hope so." Why was it HIS team got some of the lamest assignments? This was something meant for rookies, for craters' sake!

Another one of the team members, Lenny 'Lips' McGee, a blue Vermilcidian, opened his anteater-like mouth to advise, "Hey, Sprocket's right. We'll get this stuff loaded as soon as-" He paused, his small pair of antennae twitching all of a sudden. He looked to the crystal blue sky. "Uh….were we expecting company?"

Elsu, confused, asked Lenny, "What are you talking about?"

Lenny pointed upwards. "I'm talking about_ that." _

The others looked up, curious about what he meant. Each of them widened their eyes at seeing what Lenny was seeing; a certain purple ship speeding downwards towards the pyramid.

Elsu dryly remarked in a reasonably low and shocked tone, "Zurg! Craters."

This was making moving crates seem a lot of fun now.

* * *

This was NOT making the new day any easier for anyone else in another certain galaxy.

The fact that Professor Xavier was just…gone, was still hard for anyone to grasp. They did not know how to carry on, even though the morning promised a new day.

The X-Men all woke up to this day to greet each other and the professor, only to remember that he was not here, at his mansion, his own home, with his own family.

This made the pain more unbearable.

But they had to carry on somehow. They had to find a way to move on and keep going, for their sake and the professor's. So Scott came up with the idea for having some sort of day where everyone did some sort of recreational activity to get their minds off the whole trauma for awhile.

Everyone, needless to say, agree with this idea. Thus, the day was spent with everyone heading out into various places in New York City, or otherwise close to the X-Mansion. Scott himself went with Jean to visit the Guggenheim art museum in Manhattan. Jean was quite a fan of paintings, and offered this as a way to get her mind off of the professor…for both of their sakes.

The two lovers traveled to the museum, bought their tickets and programs, and were now standing under one of the famous highlights of the enormous museum, the circular and beautifully designed skylight, where the visitors could see the ocean of blue sky floating over the museum. But this was not what Jean and Scott wanted to see here; they wanted to see the new Impressionist exhibit that came into the museum.

Scott asked his girlfriend, "So Jean…I wonder what kind of interesting paintings they'll have here?"

His red-haired girlfriend shrugged. "Who knows? We'll find out soon, right?"

Scott allowed himself a small smile. "Right. Well, let's go check them out then."

Jean smiled a bit back, as they walked over to the cream-colored wall on their right, where the exhibit started. Although she was not a usual fan of Impressionism, the beautiful collection of paintings grew on Jean. The subject matters varied from genre paintings to religious paintings, from history paintings to symbolic paintings. The presentations of all these works of art amazed her, and she was a mutant who had already seen incredible things within her lifetime.

Scott, seeing her grin, reciprocated her fascination. "These paintings are really something, eh, Jean?"

She turned her head to nod and then faced the paintings again. "These paintings are simply beautiful, Scott. This was a great idea you came up with; we all need some time away to get our minds off of…well, to clear our heads." Her smile perked into a playful smirk. "Even Logan agreed to the idea; I never thought I would see the day when Logan outright volunteered first to your ideas."

Scott smirked back. "It was a surprise to me, too. But I'm glad he went along with it, even if he didn't say more than one word."

Scott's friend Logan, who was known as Wolverine in the X-Men, thought this was a good idea, even if he was the type to grunt out nothing more than a simply syllable to say 'yes'.

Jean's light giggle fluttered amongst Scott's ears. "I'm glad all of them did, Scott. Even Magneto. They need some time to relax and enjoy something for a change, after all we've been through." She sighed deeply, a motherly sigh flowing out of her lips.

Magneto was an old friend of Xavier, but he was once also a dangerous enemy of the X-Men, able to manipulate magnetism and metals. He wanted to lead his fellow mutants into ruling their society, but even he was not heartless enough to ignore Xavier's pleas for help when he needed him. And now with the professor gone, he stayed with the X-Men, figuring out what his next direction was in his life, now that his one true friend was out of his life.

Scott lightly shook his head as they moved on to more paintings. "And we'll have to be there for them when we face more troubles along the way."

Jean frowned thoughtfully before glancing around guardedly to make sure she was not intruded on. She opened her mind and focused. A psychic channel unlocked itself, instantly connecting to Scott's mind. Through this channel, called a mind link, she 'spoke', _"If you mean through mutant haters and whatever else is on the horizon, we WILL be ready, Scott. We were trained too well. We'll be prepared to take on whatever comes our way." _

Scott acknowledged back by nodding firmly. His telepathic girlfriend was right; whatever would come their way, the X-Men would take care of it.

As Jean and Scott moved onto the second floor, the first painting they saw put them to that test; could they handle what they were about to see?

This painting's black background contrasted with the light and fierceness of the main center of the work of art; a blazing inferno dancing wildly amidst the earth, its flames greedily licking the reddened and clouded sky. In the very heart of the inferno, there stood a majestic and winged creature one might call immortal and inspirational.

But Jean and Scott, for the first time since they were at the museum, both felt uncomfortable at this piece, as it brought back too many memories; memories that involved a certain powerful entity, its power reaching beyond the earthly plains, beyond the stars, beyond the cosmos even.

* * *

Unbeknownst to them, another powerful figure lurked above the museum, waiting and observing through his red eyes, for the right moment to strike.

He waited while even unbeknownst to _him_, the once bright and clear sky was flooded with grey and red clouds, a storm slowly brewing…

* * *

**Author's Note: **Well, folks...things are starting to heat up a bit for everyone. Buzz and his team are on guard duty, Zurg is still chasing after the mysterious beacon, Vok and his team are about to get into a fight with Zurg, and Jean and Scott have come across something they'd much RATHER not remember...and a mysterious figure lurks.

Btw, Elsu Vok is the fan name of the eagle background Space Ranger you see on the show that EEZ came up with...well, she came up with the last name, I came up with the first name. Lenny McGee, the blue anteater Ranger, was named by blueglows, and the young and brown-skinned young Ranger, Sprocket Crockett, was thought as the younger brother of Rocket Crockett, one of the veteran Rangers, and that was also thought up of by blueglows.

Alright, so it's off to do some chores I'd rather not do but must. Ah well. Peace and please leave a comment, good or bad. See you all on the other side!


	4. Chapter 3

**Once again…I humbly apologize for being a lazy bum on this story. I really have no excuse.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything ****_Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_**** or anything ****_X-Men_**** that is recognized here from the show belongs to Disney, Marvel, Fox Kids, and/or Pixar. I do own the idea here, however. Elana Dentrite and other unheard of characters or concepts are also mine, even if they're not in the chapter.**

**Warnings: Same as last chapter. This story will contain spoilers from the show and also from the other fandom I am doing this crossover with; ****_X-Men: The Animated Series_****. So if you don't want spoilers of any kind, I suggest you look away.**

**Thanks to everybody who reviewed; I highly appreciate it and hope to reward you with this chapter. :)**

* * *

A general rule of thumb in psychology, whenever humans see a symbolic image of something, they can immediately feel strong emotions or memories resurface after being buried deep within the subconscious mind for so long.

Jean knew this fact too well, as evidenced by her sudden departure after she and Scott looked at the rest of the exhibit. She hoped in getting rid of the image that they saw as they went around the museum, but as they continued on their tour, the image stuck in their memories, refusing to move on.

However, she was able to remain calm during the whole tour, but the minute she and Scott were done, she briskly walked down the spiral staircase and out of the building as if she were in an emergency situation. Scott kept up with Jean quickly, worried about his girlfriend.

She stopped when she was outside and about a good twenty feet from the museum, closing her eyes and breathing in and out through her mouth. She did everything she could to wipe out her pain when she saw the one painting that she found herself wishing she never saw.

Scott stood behind her, resting a loving hand on her shoulder. He gently squeezed it in hopes to help her. Watching his girlfriend breathe in and out to rid herself of memories long past when it came to that particular painting…

His hand moved from her shoulder to her arm. He said nothing, only standing there, to let her know that he was there for her.

Jean turned around, sadness and pain in her eyes. She bit her lip as she stepped forward into his open arms, wrapping hers around him. He hugged her tightly while rubbing her back.

She looked into Scott's red glasses and spoke, "I…I don't feel so good."

Scott understood. "It's alright, Jean, it's alright. I know. But…" He sighed deeply. "You know that WASN'T you who did all that. P-"

But Jean shook her head, interrupting him. "No, Scott. I know that. But that doesn't change the fact that I still DID all those horrible things...I didn't want to do them, but…well, I just…I had no control. I was only able to slow her down for the time being before I…or Lilandra-"

He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Jean, please. You DID stop her before you did what you had to do. I saw YOU run out to the open field where Lilandra was waiting for you with her ship, and I saw YOU try to protect me when you were getting ready to destroy…" He left that sentence unfinished, not wanting to relive any more of what happened.

Jean picked up on it, as shown by another hug to help him feel better about what happened, more so for his sake than her own.

After he was hugged again, Scott pulled back and looked right at her, determined to get through to her. "We are **not** dealing with that anymore, and we'll never have to as long as we're still here. We're still going to do what's right and we're still going to be who we are." He took great care not to say who they really were out in public, but he knew that she understood what he meant.

"Besides…" Scott interjected, before subtly looking over his shoulders. He continued on, only he quietly whispered into her ear, his determination still steaming, "I told you before...You are worth EVERYTHING to me, Jean. I swear to you that NOTHING will change that. You are still the same special woman I met when we joined the X-Men, and I still love you. No force, not even…THAT force, will stop me from loving you." He leaned back from her ear and pressed his lips down on her cheek, implanting a kiss on it.

He saw Jean brush her cheek where he kissed her, and mulled about his words. After a moment, she smiled a bit and nodded. "I love you too, Scott, with all my heart." She kissed him on the lips, a very mild kiss but still full of love all the same.

She felt somewhat assured about what Scott told her, but she still felt a small bout of guilt lodged in her.

Once she was done, she closed her eyes to take another deep breath. After breathing in long and deep, she opened her eyes and relaxed. She was at peace…for now.

Scott gave her a small and assuring grin.

To change the subject to something more cheerful, Jean asked, "So...now what, Scott?" Seeing her boyfriend shrug, she looked at her watch.

_11:00 am _

Scott glanced at her watch as well. He thought for a minute before he suggested, "Well, since we're done with the exhibit, maybe we should grab a quick bite to eat before we head for home?"

"That's fine with me. Let's go. But where to?"

"I'm sure we'll find something. There may be a café about a block or so from here."

Jean smiled. "Then let's go."

And with that, they walked away from the museum, both wanting to be rid of the image that haunted them.

The image was not the only them haunting them, however. On top of the museum, with eyes as red as blood itself, watching the two mutants from afar stood the lone figure, waiting…

The clouds behind him slowly gathered up their strength, building up until they were as grey and red as the mysterious watcher himself.

"So mutants...you have encountered a ghost from your past. I will use it as my specter against your very lives..."

Only thunder could be heard over the deep and foreboding chuckle he was emitting.

* * *

As they walked through the streets of Manhattan, Jean and Scott saw the sky suddenly clouding up, the sun disappearing behind the darkening clouds.

Scott frowned a little at the sudden sound of thunder. "That's odd...it was supposed to be a beautiful day." A few people around them glanced up for a brief minute or two at the sudden change of weather, before brushing the change off as if it were nothing. But the two X-Men knew that it was the opposite.

Jean glanced at Scott. "Do you think Storm has a reason to change the weather like this?"

Scott's frown deepened. "I don't think so. Unless there's trouble..." He knew that their element-controlling friend, Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm in the X-Men, usually had a good reason for whenever she unleashed the fury of nature, and that reason usually connected to danger among their friends or ordinary humans.

"Perhaps we should contact her and find out what's wrong?"

Scott looked at Jean and nodded, agreeing with her suggestion. "It wouldn't hurt to find out."

Jean nodded back in acknowledgement and mentally prepared herself to contact the mutant in question when-

"..."

_"Wait...something's not right..."_

Jean slowed down her pace as her well-developed sixth sense gradually kicked in...

"..."

_"That's strange...I feel as if..." _She continued to feel through her senses to find out whatever was the sudden dark and dreadful feeling that was growing inside of her, accompanied by a chill in her spine. The feeling grew into a wave.

Scott did not let this go unnoticed. "Jean?..."

Jean looked at Scott, her eyebrows slightly arching upwards in wariness. "Something's wrong, Scott...and I'm not sure it's the weather..."

Scott slightly tensed as he perked an eyebrow high enough for Jean to see underneath his red glasses. "What are you talking about?"

"..."

"Jean?"

The mutant felt herself still searching. Searching.

"..."

Whatever this feeling was...it was not good.

In fact, to her worry...it almost felt familiar. She looked at her boyfriend straight in the eye, now fully alert unlike the unfocused people who were passing by them on the streets. "Scott...we're being watched."

"...watched? By who?"

But Jean didn't answer right away. She looked upwards to the grey wave of clouds eclipsing the sky, as if the answer was up there among the clouds and sun.

She and Scott were soon to find that the answer was much closer to Earth than she thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, among their galaxy's stars, and back in another galaxy...

At the Museum of Ancient History…

"Aaaaannnnd that's a total of three games that I, the _magnificent_ XR, have won against the all-mighty princess Mira Nova."

Mira rolled her eyes as XR boasted about his victories. "So I've heard the first two times. Congratulations...again."

XR puffed out his Star Command emblem-branded chest and placed his arms at his sides, akimbo. He then smirked at the still sitting Mira and replied, "Well then, consider the third time as a friendly reminder that I am _the_ best at poker, Princess."

Mira watched as he danced a little victory jig, rolling her eyes once more. "Alright, Alright, I get the hint." She got up from the silver and polished floor to glance down at XR before she stretched her arms. "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna check out that tapestry again." She walked over to where the beautiful tapestry hung, putting her hands behind her as she looked upon the ancient fabric.

The robot Ranger raised an eyebrow before wheeling over to stand by her side. "What for? It's just a fancy towel waiting to be used for some emergency against the elements. I mean, c'mon, what's so special about some guy wearing an old model of last century's fashion and leaning on a flimsy toothpick?"

Mira shot her friend an unimpressed glance before looking back at the tapestry to take in more of the details sewed into this work of art. "I think that they must have been someone important. T-the way they're staring at us...it's like they can see into o-our souls..." She trailed off, unable to explain the awe she felt at this woven fabric's power and story.

"Oh, that is SO poetic; you could be a princess, Space Ranger AND galaxy-famous writer all at once."

Mira gave XR a stink-eye and retorted, "Hey, I was only expressing what I really feel when I see this tapestry!" XR immediately threw his hands up in the air to show he was going to back off; he knew from first hand experience how Mira's temper could really scare a person.

The Tangean looked at it again, her well-known fiery attitude simmering down. She took a deep breath to calm down, and then averted her eyes upwards. She wanted to see the whole tapestry from top to bottom and really take in everything that was told within this woven story.

XR watched her, an amused smile creeping onto his face. She was really into this tapestry, wasn't she?

The robot knew that he could have made another remark about her interest, but he did not want to bother her while she looked at everything the fabric portrayed. It wasn't really his thing, but it certainly had a lot of interesting pictures...and it also had words as well.

He blinked his optics for a minute before he glanced at the red words that were woven underneath the warrior's feet. That's right; this giant collection of threads did not only show pictures, there were also some words here...and it looked like they were written in some old hand.

"Hey, Mira?"

The said Ranger looked down at him, no longer peeved. "Yeah?"

He pointed at the red words. "Check this out." At seeing the Tangean look downwards to see them, he commented, "I guess they wanted to include in words to this picture book to tell us what's going on here."

A small smirk crept onto Mira's face. Now _XR_ was interested in the past?

But keeping herself from making some witty remark, she placed her hands on her hips. "Think you can translate it?"

XR smirked. "'Think it'? Princess, I can _do_ it." He wheeled a bit closer to the rails, stretching his extendable legs to reach up to the tapestry's bottom where the words were woven into. He summoned a large magnifying glass from his chest compartment, and as if it had a will of its own, it went over to the red inscription. He read out loud,

_"Our beloved warriors sleep_

_But will arise again into the light_

_When the road to end all worlds is built_

_To the heavens, we fight! "_

"..."

After XR read the poem, he and Mira blinked in surprise before letting what was said sink in.

But that pause only lasted for a minute for XR, for he then remarked, "Whoever wrote this poem must have been the most galaxy-famous writer there was in the old days."

* * *

Speaking of old things, on another planet far away from Capital Planet...

A certain purple-robed emperor was busy chasing down a flaming unidentified object onto Planet X, plummeting downwards past the desert clouds to find this object. However...

"What's this? It suddenly disappeared!"

He was correct, for the mysterious beacon abruptly flared up and went away, as if by magic.

A Grub hurriedly announced, "My Evil Emperor, a Star Command Star Cruiser has been spotted!"

This caught the emperor's attention swiftly. "What? Where? Which ship?"

The Grub looked back at its screen and magnified it to see the ship's number. "Star Cruiser 36, my Evilness. And it's there, near the pyramid!"

After quickly seeing the Star Cruiser in sight, Zurg barked out, "Well, slow down! We can't go crashing into Star Cruisers that aren't_ Lightyear_." Zurg got his wish, for the Grubs quickly slowed the ship down. It was rather a good thing, considering the ship was nearly close to hitting the sands and pyramid.

When they stopped the ship from flying any further, the Grubs looked up at Zurg, awaiting further orders.

But Zurg was not so much willing to immediately give out orders as much as he was steaming inside about losing the chase to some crazy flaming thing that he really shouldn't have bothered chasing. But he was the Evil Emperor Zurg! When he wanted something, he'd do ANYTHING to get it. And when things didn't go his way...

"Stupid flaming object...out of all things to go wrong...!"

The Grubs looked to the Brain Pods in confusion. All everyone got were confused glances and shrugs; what were they supposed to do now? They did not want to interrupt Zurg in his fit, but if there was a Star Cruiser out there...wouldn't it be wise to clear out of there before they were spotted by the Rangers?

Brain Pod 79 hesitantly took the chance to interrupt Zurg in his temper tantrum..."My Evil Emperor?"

What 79 got in response was scary but not surprising. "WHAT?!"

After recovering from a cringe and scare, 79 stood up and cowardly stammered, "W-what do we d-do now, Evil Emperor Zurg?"

The silver horned emperor's eyes temporarily flashed at the question, but he did not reply right away; he was busy trying to figure out what the next course of action was to be. He tapped his green metal teeth with a claw, thinking.

"Hmm..."

He thought about leaving the desert planet since there was nothing here, except for an ancient city and Space Rang-hey, wait a micro-minute.

Zurg looked to his staff and asked them, "Tell me...that Star Cruiser...any _specific_ details about it? I want to know anything that you can find about the ship!"

Without question, the loyal staff went to work, pressing buttons and researching about this Star Command vessel.

* * *

The voyagers of the Star Cruiser themselves tensed up, quickly jumping to their feet as the Dreadnought halted in the air.

They placed their left hands on their right arms, firing up their red lasers that were built into their Pulsar-400 Enviro-Suit suits. The lasers were set and ready to go to work against whatever Zurg was going to dish out.

But so far, nothing happened.

Sprocket raised a brow. "Hey, what gives? Why isn't he doing anything?"

Elsu slightly gritted his...beak. "I don't know, but whatever he's up to, it's nothing good. He's gotta have a reason for why he's here." He squinted his eyes suspiciously, forming a plan. He turned to Lenny and commanded, "Lenny, you get on board and tell the curator what's going on, and then afterwards, report to Star Command; tell them what's up."

Lenny saluted, and Elsu saluted back. He watched Lenny run onto the ship. When he was sure Lenny was on, he turned to his other teammates. "The rest of you, we're going to stay here and watch Zurg, just to see if something is up-!"

A smoking spot and burn mark upon the sand near the ship rudely interrupted his orders.

Knowing what to do, Elsu shouted out, "Rangers, Defensive Perimeter now, in front of the cargo!"

They spread out into a half circle, running in front of the ship and cargo, and all stood in a straight horizontal line. They raised their lasers in defense against whatever Zurg was going to try next.

"TAKE FLIGHT, MY HORNETS! GET THOSE CRATES!"

The Rangers each glared in determination, knowing that Zurg's warrior robots tended to come out in large groups, but luckily, for the Rangers, they were very expendable as well.

A whirring noise made their heads perk towards the Dreadnought, and sure enough, a huge swarm of Hornets flew out. Tall and thin, they sported golden and black colors for their paint jobs. Three straight lines stood out as the "eyes" on their heads, and their forearms, which doubled as cannons, were bulky and connected to the smaller in comparison upper arms. Their thighs were thin as horizontal lines on a map, and connected to their bulky calves and feet. These Hornets flew via jets built into their backs, spewing out light green rocket propellant.

The Hornets flew downwards to where the Rangers stood, and that was enough to start the fire.

"Keep them at bay, and don't let them get anywhere near the crates!"

Nodding quickly at Vok's order, the teammates pushed the red buttons on their suits. The button made their suits sprout out white and striped wings from their jet packs. They jumped into the air and let their wings carry them over the winds. They placed their hands on their wrists again, and started BLASTING red lasers out of their suits!

The fight was on.

* * *

**Well, that's another chapter of Storm Front, folks. Wow...for some reason, this chapter was hard for me to write. But I'm not going to dwell on why, I'm actually going to go ahead and talk about how I'm just glad to be in the writing groove again for this story. Holy nova...well, anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Again, I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it'll have action!**

**So like before, please go ahead and say what you loved, what you hated, what was awesome, what could be more awesome, etc. I'll see you all on the other side! Peace.**


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